


Marriage, Mistakes, and Maybe Fate

by Sotheylived



Series: Follower Appreciation [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, F/M, Secret Relationship, Spin the Bottle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 00:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7245517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sotheylived/pseuds/Sotheylived
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a drunken mistake, Killian and Emma strike a deal; if he can't convince her to stay married to him in three months time, he'll back off and they'll go back to being nothing more than friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marriage, Mistakes, and Maybe Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Some inspiration for this came from Vic and Val from What I Like About You, because I can’t write about accidental weddings without thinking of them haha.

"Three months," Killian said trying desperately to keep his voice even. "Just give it until Dave's wedding and if you still want an annulment, I won't argue." 

Emma stopped pacing the room and glanced at him. "Three months?" she asked, voice unreadable. 

"Aye love," Killian nodded, standing up from the hotel mattress before cautiously approaching Emma as though she were a spooked animal. "The best -" his voice cut out on him and he cleared his throat, "The best feeling I've ever had in my life, is this pervasive sense of utter calm, the feeling of coming back somewhere you belong and just knowing that you're home. I've only felt that twice, two times in my entire life. The first was when I stepped aboard the Jolly, and the second time," Killian stepped forward again and was bolstered when Emma didn't take a step back, "the second time was when I met you." 

Emma inhaled sharply and Killian froze. 

"If you're willing,” he said quietly, “I think we owe it to ourselves to see where this leads. Please Emma, give us a chance."

"Just three months?" she clarified, gaze meeting his once more.   
Killian nodded.

"Okay," Emma said, and Killian couldn't help the smile overtaking his face, even as Emma held up a hand and continued to speak. "On one condition..." 

" _Anything_ ," Killian said, and  _god_ he meant it. He would do anything for this woman - for his  _wife -_ even if their matrimony had been an accident _._

_"_ You can't tell anyone." 

* * *

 

Killian had accidentally married Emma a month and a half ago. He'd been in love with the woman ever since David had introduced the two of them at his birthday party five years ago, and while he may have pictured them getting married (though he'd never admit it aloud) he never pictured them getting married like this. 

They'd both gotten wasted at David and Mary Margaret's joint bachelor/bachelorette party in Vegas, and while some parts of the night were a little hazy, the memory of sneaking away from the rest of the group and finding a chapel was perfectly clear. 

The next morning by some miracle Killian managed to get Emma to agree to give them a shot for the three months leading up to her brother and Mary Margaret's wedding. The only problem was that in the six weeks since their marriage, nothing had changed. They still met up for coffee every Wednesday before work, Killian came over to watch a movie on Friday night, and they shared at least two meals a week so Emma wouldn't starve surviving on poptarts and onion rings alone.

 Not that Killian didn't enjoy their time together, because he did, if he was being honest with himself he enjoyed it more than almost anything else, but if he had any hope of changing Emma's mind about getting the annulment something had to change. Unfortunately, Emma seemed determined to keep everything exactly the same as it was before.  

While Killian had promised Emma he wouldn't tell anyone they were married, he never said anything about consulting his best mate for advice.

"You want my advice on how to 'woo' Emma?" David asked, making fun of the way Killian said woo. 

Killian nodded brushing his overgrown fringe out of his eyes.  

David crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Killian for a moment, full big brother mode activated. "So you're finally making a move on her?" 

"Aye," Killian began to say, before he realized what David's words implied. "Wait, you know?" 

David's stern mask slipped as he chuckled. "Of course I know, everyone knows. Hell, I think even Ruby's Granny knows." 

Killian ducked his head and shrugged. "To be fair, I think that woman knows a lot more than she lets on."

David smirked in return. "Have you tried telling her how you feel?" 

"Granny?" Killian asked with a smirk, "No Dave, I haven't, I figured it'd be best to keep my love for the woman in the dark so I still have a shot with Emma." 

David groaned and smacked Killian in the shoulder, "Emma you dunce." 

Killian groaned, if only things with Emma could be so simple. David patted Killian on the shoulder and went to the fridge, grabbing a beer for each of them.  

"Well I didn't think that would work, to be honest," David said, plopping down onto the couch beside Killian. "but I figured that's the best place to start. You know Emma, she's had a rough go of it. It makes her a bit more wary about relationships than most." 

"Aye," Killian agreed. She was only recently heartbroken on the night that they met.   

It had been at David's twenty second birthday party, over five years ago now. Killian had been in a bad place when he met David. It was only a year after his brother's death and he was still mad at the world. Mad at the prick that reminded him of his brother. David had been working down by the docks that summer before he started at the animal shelter that fall, and Killian hated him at first. But their forced proximity was more conducive to friendship than animosity really, and once Killian got Dave drunk enough to pull the stick out from his stubborn arse they'd become fast friends. 

A couple months later he was at the man's birthday party with a bunch of people he didn't know. He was in the kitchen -  _not_ hiding, as Emma liked to say when she told the story - when a woman came bursting in and told him to get his ass in the living room since they were starting a game of spin the bottle, because they were apparently twelve years old.  

"If you wanted to kiss me so desperately all you had to do was ask," he said flirtatiously, "no need for any games."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand. "Oh hell no," she said, half dragging him out to the living room, "if I have to play this dumb ass game, then so does everyone else." 

Killian had smiled at her then and shook their already held hands. "Killian Jones." 

"Emma Swan,"  she said, sparing him a glance as she shoved him down none too gently in the circle of grown ass adults getting ready to play a children's game. 

She slipped her hand out of his and dragged the last couple stragglers into the circle before finally plopping down in the empty space between him and David.  

"I'm fairly certain this is just an elaborate scheme of my brother's to kiss Ruby's friend Mary Margaret," Emma whispered to him as the game started.  

"Ah," he said, knocking his knee against hers, "so you're the sister Dave always talks about."  

She hummed affirmatively, eyes never straying from the spinning bottle.  

"Not a fan of kissing games Swan?" Killian whispered as the bottle landed on Mulan. 

Emma glanced at the couple kissing in the center briefly before meeting Killian's gaze. "Let's just say my fiance leaving me at the alter last month has been the highlight of my past three relationships. So I’m not exactly in a kissing mood." 

"Ouch," Killian said, trying to push the thoughts of Milah from his mind before they could settle there. "Well I'm sure you'll find someone worthy of your love Swan. Perhaps sooner than you think." 

She stared at him for a moment, before nodding briefly and looking back to the game as the Robin took the bottle to give it a spin. Killian wanted to strike up a conversation with her for the rest of the game, but couldn't really find an opportunity, so the rest of the game went on with only the odd stolen glance at Emma and nothing more until the last round. 

They'd been playing for a while and Emma was the only person who'd avoided a kiss so far. It was Mary Margaret's turn with the bottle and as it slowed both Killian and Emma seemed to come to the realization that it would stop on her at the same moment. 

"What was that?!" Killian said, elbowing Emma as he pointed behind Mary Margaret towards the kitchen window. 

"What?" half the group chorused, turning to look in the direction he pointed.

Emma nudged the stopped bottle so it was pointing at David. 

"Oh," Killian said, when the everyone’s gaze returned to him, "sorry I thought I saw something." 

He got a couple odd looks but Killian just shrugged as they went back to the game. Mary Margaret gave a little gasp of excitement when she noticed the bottle and David smiled at her shyly from across the circle. 

"Perhaps we should go get some more drinks?" Killian said and the group agreed, disbanding from the circle and disbursing around the room as David and Mary Margaret began to kiss. 

Killian smiled, the only person who could've seen what he and Emma had done was David, but since his lips were very eagerly occupied at the moment, Killian didn't think he'd be complaining. Killian grabbed another drink from the fridge and was surprised to find Emma standing behind him when he turned around. 

"Thanks for that back there," she said, swiping his beer from him to steal the first swig. 

"Not a problem Swan," Killian said, leaning against the counter. "I must say we make quite the team." 

Emma bumped her shoulder into his and leaned casually against the counter next to him. A small smile began to bloom across her lips and if he were to try to pinpoint the moment he fell in love with Emma Swan, that was it. 

David put his arm on the back of the couch, bringing Killian back to the present. 

"But just because she's had a rough history doesn't mean she should give up on happiness Jones and the same goes for you. She needs stability in her life, someone she can count on, and as much as I'm loathe to admit it, you've been there time and again. I think she just needs time to realize it." David took a sip of his beer. "And maybe a well timed nudge from Mary Margaret," he added. 

Killian followed David's advice the entire five weeks following their chat. He wasn’t going to pressure her, but he continued to make sure she knew he was always there for her. He was there when her car broke down, halfway to Boston on a lead, spending the entire road trip back playing stupid car games they both pretended to hate. He made her dinner on two Friday nights when she had late night stake outs and would be eating cheese doodles or poptarts if it weren't for him. He was there with seasons one through three of friends and a shoulder to lean on when it was the anniversary of her would be wedding - though she wasn't too distraught about it. And even though he felt closer to her than ever, he still feared that at the end of the rapidly approaching three months, she'd hand him the annulment papers and move on with her life. 

As David and Mary Margaret’s wedding approached he had to actively shake the thoughts of annulments from his mind in order to enjoy Emma's company rather than panic. He was doing a fine job of enjoying the moment just one week shy of the wedding when the four of them were playing poker in Mary Margaret’s loft.  

Three hands in and the bets became more interesting, as they always seemed to do whenever the four of them realized they didn't particularly like poker, at least not without higher stakes.

"If I win," Mary Margaret said, tapping the backs of her cards thoughtfully as she glanced around the table, "then I get to stop playing and go back to planning out the few last minute details of the ceremony. If one of you wins then I'll keep playing." 

David groaned, "Mary Margaret, we're supposed to be hanging out with Emma and Killian to relax and take a break from the wedding planning." 

"Well then you'd better hope someone can beat a straight flush," she said, laying down her hand with a smug smile. 

There were groans from all around the table as Mary Margaret stood with a bow and went into the loft's kitchen which had been overtaken with wedding paraphernalia. 

"No cheating and telling your husband my hand," Emma said, turning over her shoulder to glare at Mary Margaret, who had a perfect view of Emma’s cards. 

"He's not my husband yet," Mary Margaret said, sharing a smile with David. 

Emma groaned good naturedly and dealt the next hand. The following two rounds led to David winning a promise from Emma that she'd arrive to the wedding on time and an entire weekend's use of the Jolly from Killian. Emma who was usually good at poker hadn't won a hand all night. 

"Ugh fold," David said, a moment after Killian finished dealing the hands. 

Killian had two pair and was speaking before his brain could catch up with his mouth. "If I win, then we go to the wedding together as a date." 

David laughed and took a swig of his beer, and even Mary Margaret looked up from the last minute wedding planning. 

Emma raised a brow at him, "and if I win?" 

He shrugged, "then I'll back off and you won't have to worry about me bothering you any more." 

Emma stared at him for a long moment then slapped two of her cards down on the table. "Hit me." 

Killian gave her two new cards, and kept his own hand. He laid his cards down on the table. "Two pair," he said, smirking when he saw her face fall. 

"You win," she said, putting her cards face down onto the table before scooping them up with the rest of the deck. "I guess we'll be going to the wedding together after all. 

Killian looked at her, cocking his head to the side slightly. "What'd you have?"  

"A pair of aces," she said, glancing away from him uncomfortably as she shuffled the deck. 

Killian shook his head, he wanted to date her, but not like this - not because of some dumb bet or a drunken accident. "It's alright Swan," he said, painfully aware of everyone in the room's eyes trained on him. "We don't have to go to the wedding together, and our other arrangement," he said, glancing at Dave briefly before looking back at Emma, "that can be over too. Everything can go back to the way it was." Killian stood, slipping his jacket from the back of the chair. "I should get going now, but I'll see you three at the wedding, aye?" 

He left without waiting for an answer. 

The week leading up to the wedding seemed both the longest and the shortest of Killian's life. He studiously avoided town, taking a last minute shipment down to the New York harbor and coincidentally avoided everyone in town until the night of the wedding. 

His eyes met Emma's more than once during the ceremony and she looked confused and maybe a little bit sad, but Killian couldn't be sure that it wasn't just him projecting his feelings onto her. 

Once the ceremony was over and the reception began, Killian made his way over to the bar. As he ordered his drink he wondered idly how plastered he could get before David would punch him. 

 "I know what happened," Mary Margaret said, startling him from behind. 

"Emma told you what happened in Vegas?" Killian asked, completely caught off guard. 

"What?" Mary Margaret's brow furrowed. "What happened in Vegas?" 

"Err, nothing." Killian grabbed his drink from the bar top and steered the bride to a more secluded corner of the room, "What were you talking about?"

"Emma's hand in poker, during the last round," she said, leaning forward and speaking in no more than a whisper. "She had a flush." 

"Aye," Killian said, not following what exactly was so important about a hand of poker that it was keeping Mary Margaret away from enjoying her own wedding reception, "and what of it?"

Mary Margaret sighed exasperatedly, "you were betting a date for my wedding and she  _won._ She beat you, fair and square. She only pretended to lose." 

"What?" Killian asked, trying to tamp down the bubble of hope threatening to burst within his chest. "Why would she do that?" 

"You're a smart man, Killian. I'm sure you can figure that out.," Mary Margaret said patting him on the shoulder before she walked back towards the dance floor. 

Killian's mind was racing and maybe he'd given up hope too soon, maybe Emma  _wanted_ him too. He searched the crowd before spotting Emma sitting at one of the tables near the far wall. Taking a swig of his rum for courage he marched over to her. 

"May I have this dance Swan?" he asked, holding out his hand.  

She eyed his outstretched hand for a moment before meeting his gaze. "I thought you didn't want to bother with me anymore," she said, in lieu of answering. 

"And I thought that you would never be interested in me," Killian said. "But perhaps we were both wrong."   
  
"What do you mean?" Emma asked uncertainly. 

"Mary Margaret seems to have us all figured out." Killian said, wiggling the fingers of his outstretched hand. "She saw you threw the hand on purpose love."

Emma inhaled sharply. "Mary Margaret is really awful at keeping secrets," she grumbled. 

Killian chuckled, and shifted his hand further towards her. "Do you want to dance with me love?" 

"I - " Emma smiled a little nervously and met his gaze. "Killian I  _want_  to be with you. I want to give us a chance. I can't promise that I will stop running away yet, but I'm going to - I want to try." 

Killian smiled and leaned down, whispering conspiratorially, "you're supposed to say I do." 

Emma laughed and looked up at him, eyes shining. 

She took his hand. 


End file.
